The Metaphor of Mental Illness

Neil Pickering

Provides a clear review of the dispute over the reality of mental illness, introducing the reader to many of the most important sources

Engages with sceptical contemporary approaches such as Social Constructionism and the strong programme in the sociology of knowledge, helping the reader to link different contemporary approaches to the existing debate

Refers to contemporary disputes such as those about ADHD, helping the reader to see these in a new and wider light

The Metaphor of Mental Illness

Neil Pickering

Description

Despite the currency of the notion of mental illness, there are those who take the radical skeptical line that mental illness is a fabrication. This is a book which takes this skeptical line seriously - perhaps more seriously than almost any other book not written by skeptics themselves.

The Metaphor of Mental Illness is a revaluation of the traditional philosophical disputes about the existence and nature of mental illness. It puts forward a new view of mental illness and proposes a resolution of the issues, carefully guiding the reader through the issues and debates.

Accessible to specialists and those new to the field, the book is full of practical examples, both historical and modern.

The Metaphor of Mental Illness

Neil Pickering

Author Information

Neil Pickering is a lecturer in the Bioethics Centre of the Dunedin School of Medicine, at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. He has a PhD from the University of Wales. He teaches on undergraduate and graduate bioethics programmes at Otago. His primary research interests are in the philosophy of medicine (in particular the nature of disease and the nature and existence mental illness), medical humanities (where he has written on the use of poetry to teach ethics) and alternative medicine. Member of the Executive Committee of the Australasian Bioethics Association, and an Associate Editor of Journal of Bioethical Inquiry and of Medical Humanities Edition of the Journal of Medical Ethics.

The Metaphor of Mental Illness

Neil Pickering

Reviews and Awards

"This book was certainly an interesting read, and the author attempts to take a truly neutral position on whether or not mental illness actually exists."--Doody's

"This is a well-written stimulating book which addresses important issues that should be thought about and questioned by clinicians and researchers in all fields of psychiatry."--Psychological Medicine